The Hunt Never Stops
by skywriter55
Summary: In the ballet studio, James only goes so far as breaking Bella's leg because Edward shows up earlier to save Bella. When James escapes, he re-joins with his coven and they continue with the hunt, but they don't act alone. Enter Tanya's coven from Alaska. R&R Rated T for safety. Alternating POV's. Twilight-New Moon AU
1. Chapter 1

**This is the intro to my second story, ****The Hunt Never Stops****, in which Edward manages to save Bella after James breaks her leg. However, the tracker escapes to re-group with his coven and they stay on the mission of tracking her down, with or without a certain vegetarian coven from Alaska. **

**Disclaimer: Twilight isn't mine.**

_Bella POV_

His foot stepped down on my leg. I heard a sickening snap and I knew that at least one of the bones was broken. Weird: I felt nothing yet. When he smirked and tapped it with his toe, a scream erupted from my throat before I could stop it. I wasn't bleeding at all, not that I knew of, but my stomach was twisting nonetheless. This was the most terrified I'd ever been in my life.

"Would you like to rethink your last request?" His growl was low and threatening, but teasing.

I finally realized why Edward had been so reluctant to introduce me to his world. While I trusted his family, vampires were dangerous. Even the vegetarian ones had this type of power, to break and kill with little to no effort. I finally shared his views about keeping me hidden, but it was too little, too late.

My poor Edward. I hoped this wouldn't hurt him too badly, seeing me dead. Though he'd told me he loved me, it was all I could wish that I was merely a fascination to him. The thought of him in agony eclipsed every other concern for myself in an instant.

The sinister burgundy eyes grew even darker while I watched. An answer was what he wanted, but in my complete terror, my mouth seemed melded shut. "Well?" he snarled. I opened my lips to answer.

No sound came out. This was straight out of my darker nightmares. It was like that frustrating dream where you're at school without clothes on, but your feet are glued to the ground and movement is absolutely impossible. I was frozen.

He leaned forward, grabbing my jaw in his hands. "Let's see how we can make this little film more interesting for your sad boyfriend." The force of his fingers was shocking. He was clearly trying not to break my face- yet. "Let the show begin." Wracking waves of fear and sickness reverberated throughout my body. My eyes shut of their own accord, and behind my lids I saw Edward.

He was grinning at me, showing me the crooked smile that I adored. Maybe he was here to lead me to my final peace. I just hoped that he found my letter and that he kept himself- and his family- safe. Another low growl slid from between James' clenched teeth.

"I love you, Edward," I whispered.

A loud snarl erupted from in front of me, and I cringed, anticipating the first blow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Twilight Saga not mine**

When the blow I feared did not immediately come, I raised one terrified eyelid a fraction to see what was going on, why I wasn't yet dead. The snarling was a continuing sound, sort of in the background. What I saw eased my fear; it was what I'd hoped for in vain.

Edward was snarling, crouched in front of me, blocking James' feints at me with solid concentration. It looked like James wasn't trying to hurt Edward; he just wanted to get to me. This was his game, and he was the master player.

"Give up the human, Edward! She's food," hissed James eagerly, eyes on the small cut on my forehead. "You can't deny that you want her just as much as I do right now." The sadistic dark ruby eyes met mine, and he threw a sinister smile in my direction.

Edward shifted to block his view of me. "She is _not _food."

"But she could be. You know that I know your unique situation. She's your… how do you say… singer. Imagine having the constant fire in your throat quenched finally, the warm blood rushing down your throat…"

My heart pounded louder as though to taunt their needs. And now I was completely and thoroughly frightened, scared to my core. What if Edward listened to him and gave in?

Edward let out a roar. "Get out, or I'll kill you right now. You will never touch her again."

A flash of shock showed in James' eyes before his formerly friendly face towards Edward morphed into something much, much more dangerous. "Know this, Edward," he spit. "If you think her injuries are bad now, you're in for a real shock when I get her next time. That gash in her forehead and broken leg will seem like a paper cut—"

A second crash echoed through the room and I knew it would only be other vampires. Who else? I shut my eyes again and let out a whimper.

"Damn it!" Emmett's usually jolly voice was low and angry as he swore. "Bastard got away."

I allowed myself to look fully into the room then. Emmett, Alice, and Carlisle were frozen looking out at the broken window where James had thrown himself to escape. Edward still stood staring in the same direction, his dark eyes blank and faraway.

I realized that I had been holding my breath throughout the ordeal and let it out. It shook embarrassingly, punctuating the dead silence.

Carlisle was at my side in an instant, pulling a shard of glass out of the wound in my head, releasing another tide of blood. I pulled a breath in sharply, pressing my sleeve to the wound. However, that was also red and wet. My entire shirt was stained and dripping.

"Is this from any other cut?" I asked Carlisle, fearing the answer.

My voice cut through Edward's trance. He whipped around as Carlisle began to check the rest of my head and body. I looked up at him through my lashes, wondering if he was finding the truth in James' earlier words.

For a few seconds, he did nothing but stare into my eyes. Was he angry? Was he thirsty?

Then he sighed and dropped to his knees at my side, drawing me into an embrace. "It's okay, Bella. You'll be fine."

"I'm sorry," I sniffled, pressing the uninjured side of my face into his chest. He gently pulled his fingers through my hair in a soothing motion, pressing kisses to the top of my head and murmuring comforting words in my ear.

Carlisle continued his check, tracing my neck, shoulders, and down to my legs.

Edward grabbed his hand before he could touch me. "Don't," he insisted. "It's broken." There was rage seething beneath his calm exterior, and it became evident when he spoke of my broken bones.

"I have to look at it, Bella, please." I grimaced but nodded consent. He grasped the bottom hem of the jeans and ripped them carefully until they were open at just above my knee. What lay under the fabric made all of us inhale in shock, and Emmett swore again. My bones were obviously crooked, the skin already turning black and purple. One of the bones had come out of the skin in my leg and was visible.

I shut my eyes before the sight could make me sick and focused on breathing in and out.

"Carlisle, she needs a hospital!" Edward's voice was panicked and scared.

"I already called them. They're ready for her. Let's go." His voice was still calm, but now laced with concern.

Edward scooped me up and held me tight against his chest, still talking comfortingly; but now he was too panicky to actually soothe. It was clear that his control was fracturing as well. The black in his eyes was growing and burning with each passing second.

"Run?" Edward asked as Alice grabbed my hand for a second.

"Yes," she answered, apparently seeing the future. They began to race, and when the unreal speed of the vampires shocked me again, I wondered if James had indeed finished the job and killed me back in the studio. This type of speed was inhuman.

By the time we reached the hospital, I was almost asleep, and more terrified than before. What if Edward left me? James would get me for sure.

He began to place me on a gurney when I grabbed his sleeve. "Don't leave me," I begged brokenly.

"I won't," he whispered, touching my face tenderly. I noted again the threatening black in his eyes.

"Hunt," I said as sternly as I could. "And then come back."

"I will. Just sleep, Bella, and we'll take care of you. I promise."

"Kay," I answered.

Just before I drifted off, I heard his voice calling to me as if underwater. "Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you so much." There was no denying the truth in his words. It rang with sincerity.

"I know," I whispered, eliciting a chuckle. "I do too.

The blackness overtook me then.

**Okay, if you liked, ****review****!**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is just a little bit of fluff, and the Cullens find out where James and Victoria are. **

**Fave, follow, review.**

**Disclaimer: Twilight Saga belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

I felt like I was floating for a period of time. There was nothing but the blackness surrounding me, and it was surprisingly comfortable to just lay and feel what I felt.

Reality, of course, decided to shatter my serenity.

I woke with a start, jerking my arm and tugging on the I.V. that was sticking out of it. Before the action could make me sick, I saw a figure standing at the window of my room, back to me. My heart pounded loudly, furiously. I raised my hand to the call button in case this was an intruder.

Then I saw the bronze hair, the comfortingly familiar posture of Edward. A laugh burbled out of my throat; the meds were making me crazy. It was just Edward.

When he heard me laugh, he turned sharply, fixing his furious eyes on my face.

The mirth died in my throat as I took in his expression. It was pure anger. His eyes were still black; it seemed he hadn't gone hunting while I was asleep. The hands that had carried me so gently and soothed me in the ballet studio were clenched into hard fists, with his arms crossed against his chest.

I hated to admit it, but he was scaring me.

"Edward?" My voice stuck a bit in my throat. "What's wrong?" I thought back desperately to what I'd done before I'd fallen asleep that would make him so angry. I just remembered him telling me he loved me, and I'd said the same back to him.

"Alice and Jasper told me something very interesting," he whispered. He looked like he was trying to keep himself calm. "And then they gave me this note." He pulled it out of the jeans pocket. It was the note I'd written in the hotel. I grimaced.

"James didn't physically take you from them, did he?" It was more of a statement than a fact. "You ran straight to him."

I didn't have to respond: the look on my face said it all. He crumpled the note in his hand.

"How could you do that?" he hissed, glaring at me. I sank further into the hard bed, trying to disappear from his view.

"He said he had my mother-" My voice was weak, scared.

"It was a clear trick, Bella! And you ran right into his hands, not caring that it would destroy me if he killed you. Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

"That's why I left you the note," I pleaded, tears beginning to form on my eyes. I hated when he was angry with me. "I didn't want you to be hurt if you came after him."

"I can take care of myself," he said at a slightly louder volume.

"I know. But I just-"

"I just don't understand! Bella, if I had lost you… You don't know what it feels like. It's the worst pain you could imagine, to lose your true love." He was losing more and more of his control. And then, suddenly, he was next to me, his body leaning over me almost threateningly. "What were you thinking?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but it was just like in the studio, when James had asked me a question, and in my terror, I'd clammed up. The same thing happened now. 'This is just Edward,' I reminded myself, but at that moment in time he could have been any other vampire. I didn't want him to be mad at me; his anger was terrifying. The heart rate monitor was going crazy with the frenzied pounding of my heart.

"Answer me!" he growled.

"I don't know," I managed to whisper. Then, mortifyingly, I burst into tears.

The door to my room opened, and I tried to calm my crying lest it be another of the Cullens. But it was just the nurse, bustling in with a cheery, "Glad to see you're awake, darlin'."

Edward leaned away from me and stood with his arms crossed, expression worried, as he stared at my face. The nurse checked my leg first. I refused to look at it; no doubt the stitches would be grisly and unappealing. I saw Edward's gaze travel to the wound, the broken bones, and he cringed slightly before raising his gaze back to mine. There was regret in his stare.

"You okay, honey?" she asked so tenderly that more tears flowed. No, I wasn't- my stupid decisions had led Edward to be furious with me, and I didn't know if it had erased his positive emotions for me. I shook my head in answer to her question.

"Bella-" Edward's sentence was cut off as I felt something warm trickle down my face. I instantly knew that it was blood and lifted my hand to cover the wound. My head-shaking had ripped one of the stitches.

"Oh, shoot." The nurse clucked her tongue, oblivious to the tension that was filling the room. "I'll be right back with Dr. Cullen."

The second she left, Edward darted to the door. It was clear that he was holding his breath.

"Edward?"

"I need to hunt," he managed through his clenched teeth.

And with that, he was gone. I was frozen with shock up until the point when Carlisle came in, his golden eyes fatherly and caring. "Are you alright?"

"In regards to what?" I whispered, still stunned.

He sighed before pulling up a chair next to me and working on my head. "Bella, you should know what happens when we're thirsty." His fingers stilled for an instant; he was deciding how to best phrase what he was going to say so as not to upset me.

"Don't worry about freaking me out," I insisted, trying to ignore the tugging sensation of the stitches. "I'm a part of your family now. I should probably know the whole truth."

Carlisle smiled gently before nodding and continuing. "Thirst is a burning in our throats- and with it comes a dry mouth, and an empty feeling." I tried to process the new information quickly, as he wasn't pausing. "When it goes on so long that our eyes are black, it's the only thing we can focus on. All-consuming, if you will. It's a fire, truly, and it hurts, and when it happens that badly you know that whatever blood you can find will quench it."

He sighed then, finished with re-stitching me. "It's all you can think of. It makes you irritable, and your control shatters."

"So you heard what just happened then," I stated, jerking my chin in the direction of where Edward had disappeared. Of course. It only seemed fitting that others had seen my moment of humiliation.

He nodded, looking at me with his knowing eyes. "He will come back, Bella, don't worry about that."

"How mad is he?" I whispered.

"Enough that he needed a little bit of space. But Bella, that anger was stemming from the fear of almost losing you; and that anger was directed internally. He only wanted to protect you, and he failed."

"He didn't-" I began to argue, but the automated drugs filled my veins again and I hit the pillow. More darkness took me, and I'd never been so grateful.

When I woke again, it was Alice, not Edward, who was sitting beside me. I smiled at her, and she answered with a blinding grin. "Is Edward here?"

"Not yet," she answered, her face creasing. "But I washed your hair for you!"

I reached up to feel; it was indeed less disgusting than it had been. "Thank you," I thanked her.

She grabbed my hand and yanked me to my feet. "What are you doing?" I gasped in fear.

"To really thank me, how about going for a walk?" Her voice was hopeful, undeniably so.

"Can I?" I queried.

"Carlisle cleared you."

"Is there any way to argue with you?"

"Nope!" Her twinkling laugh echoed through the room as we took baby steps towards the door.

It was agonizing as well as slow, but I was in the hallway, holding onto her for dear life. My back was hunched over like I was a hundred years old. When we passed a reflective glass case holding papers and notifications, I caught a look at my reflection, and promptly started convulsing with laughter.

"What?"

"I look like an addict or something," I hiccupped cheerfully. My hair, while washed, was in slight disarray. My head was stitched, with dark circles under my eyes, and I had gotten thinner in the four days since we'd arrived at the hospital.

She laughed with me just as we passed the doors to the hospital.

The automatic doors swung open and Edward walked through.

**Next time, Edward and Bella talk about what happened and she leaves the hospital, only to see Victoria waiting. Thanks!**

**Review, fave, follow.**


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